Petitioners want Allan Kozinn reinstated as New York Times music critic

A Change.org petition with more than 1,000 supporters asks that Allan Kozinn be reinstated as New York Times music critic. The veteran journalist was recently reassigned to general culture reporting — a “demotion [that music insiders say] is unjust, illogical, unfair to a loyal and dedicated writer and very bad news indeed for the New York Times,” writes Norman Lebrecht, who discloses that Kozinn is “a personal friend of long standing.”

Allan Kozinn

The change.org petition calls Kozinn “one of the best all-around music critics today and a most crucial part of what has made the New York Times music articles and reviews such a incredible resource.”

Both Kozinn and a Times spokeswoman decline comment on the reassignment, but the journalist tells Romenesko readers:

Critics don’t generally do what we do in order to be liked or make friends, and I know that things I’ve written have angered people over the years – which is what makes the amount and vehemence of the response – on blogs, Facebook and now the petition – all the more astonishing. It’s a little like being in “It’s a Wonderful Life” without having to hang out with Clarence.